Connemara windfarm could generate multi-million euro community fund
Galway Bay fm newsroom – A community fund of up to 5 million euro could be generated if the proposed development of a major windfarm in Connemara is granted permission by An Bord Pleanala.
An application from Ardderroo Windfarm Limited seeks to erect 29 turbines in the townlands of Killaguile, Letter, Uggool, Ardderroo and Finnaun.
Councillors at this week’s meeting were told that the 4000 acre site contains only two homes, and that one of the affected landowners is directly involved with the development.
The current application states that 1.5 million euro will be put into a community fund over the course of 25 years as a result of the development, which will generate rates of 696 thousand euro a year.
Connemara district councillor Noel Thomas proposed that the council should seek a more substantial community gain fund of 200,000 per annum for 25 years, which would be index linked.
Councillor Tom Welby also proposed that the community would not be required to raise matching funds in order to benefit from the community gain fund.
Both proposals were agreed by the full council.
Ninety percent of the proposed windfarm will be located on lands that are owned by Coillte, and will generate 87 megawatts of electricity.
The energy that would be generated would power 62,000 homes, or 70% of all the homes in County Galway.
The project will require a development contribution of 230 thousand euro.
16 submissions were received by An Bord Pleanála on the plans- five from prescribed bodies and 11 from third parties.
The file is now with the planning inspector who will prepare a report for the consideration of the board.
A decision is due in March next year.
An avalanche of applications were received by a Gaeltacht community in Joyce Country offering a home rent-free for a year to a family with children of primary school age.
A total of 1,180 families applied for the ‘free house’ offered by Scoil Naomh Pádraig in An Chloch Bhreac (Cloghbrack) outside of An Fhairce (Clonbur).
It initiated the competition earlier this year to lure a family with young children to the rural parish in County Galway in a bid to boost enrolment – and save the school.
The Gaelscoil currently has two teachers (a teaching principal plus one other teacher) and a learning support teacher. But unless it has more than 12 pupils enrolled next September, it will lose one teacher for the following year, which is an existential threat.
It offered a five-bedroom home, rent free, to a family with children who can enrol in the school to maintain pupil numbers above 12.
A similar initiative on Inis Meáin last year reportedly attracted around 1,600 applications.
Scoil Naomh Pádraig principal Geraldine Feerick confirmed to the Connacht Tribune that 1,180 people applied.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Connacht Tribune
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Connacht Tribune
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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